Survey Research on e-Learningin Asian Countries - Fiscal Year 2002
(Country Specific Report - Lao P.D.R.)

- Table of Contents 1. Market: Market Trends of e-Learning..........................................................................................1
1.1 Status of IT Promotion (Centered on the Internet).................................................................1
1.1.1 Outline of the Internet .....................................................................................................1
1.1.2 Outline of ISP .................................................................................................................1
1.2 Status of Education and Training System..............................................................................2
1.2.1 Higher Education ............................................................................................................2
1.2.2 Vocational Education ......................................................................................................2
1.3 IT Human Resources Required.............................................................................................2
1.4 E-Learning Market Trends.....................................................................................................22. Technology: Trends of e-Learning System (Synchronous & Asynchronous)...............................3
3. Advanced Activities.....................................................................................................................34. Government Policy and its Vision (Mid- and Long-term Direction)..............................................4
4.1 Status of IT Policies...............................................................................................................4
4.2 E-Learning Related Measures as Part of IT or Educational Policies .....................................4
4.3 Laws Regulating Rights for Intellectual Property and Personal Information in e-Learning ....4
4.4 Vision ....................................................................................................................................4
4.5 International and National Conference..................................................................................4i

1. Market: Market Trends of e-Learning
1.1 Status of IT Promotion (Centered on the Internet)
1.1.1 Outline of the Internet
Laos is said to be one of the least developed countries in ASEAN with regard to theinformation technology field. Laos adopts a cautious attitude toward the inflow of informationfrom foreign countries via the Internet. In 2000, the National Internet Management Committee
issued an administrative order regarding the use of the Internet. According to thisadministrative order, which covers all individuals, organizations, and Internet service providers(ISP), violators will be punished based on domestic laws.
According to the statistics of ITU (2001), the number of Internet users in Laos was about
10,000, which means that the Internet diffusion rate in this year was as low as about 0.19%.
Internet users in Laos connect to the Internet mainly via dial-up connections. The ITU survey
in 1999 showed that the number of Internet users was about 2,000. Comparing this number
with about 10,000 Internet users in 2001, it can be said that the number of Internet users in
Laos has been growing rapidly.
The main cities in Laos have Internet shops (Internet cafes) in which Internet access isavailable. It is estimated that there are approximately 50 Internet cafes in and around
Vientiane.

1.1.2 Outline of ISP
In Laos, there are three ISPs: Lao Telecom, LaoNet (GlobeNet), and PlaNet Online. Inaddition, the Science, Technology and Environment Agency (STEA) provides e-mail service
only. Because communication provided by Laotian ISPs is unstable, many foreigners staying
in this country use Thai ISPs by way of international calls.
Country-code top-level domain name for Laos is ".la". The right to use this domain namewas bought from Laos by Sterling Holdings Ltd., which runs a domain name business in HongKong. Japan's e-Lux Corporation obtained the exclusive right to sell this domain name inJapan and started a registration service for ".la" in May 2001. Thus, caution is required in thata website with the domain name ".la" is not always representing a Laotian organization.
Table 1-1 Main ISPs
ISPs

Overview

Lao Telecom
http://www.laotel.com/

Laotel (Lao Internet Service Center, Lao Telecommunications Co.,
Ltd.) started an ISP business in August 1999 jointly funded by Laogovernment and Thai investor. This company provides Internetservices in cooperation with Singapore and provides 64kbps
connections to SingNet of Singapore.

LaoNet (GlobeNet)
http://www.laonet.net/
http://www.laonet.net/globenet/

Globe Telecom, a Philippine company providing a service called
GlobeNet, started an ISP business in Laos in August 1998.
International communication is provided via satellites. E-mailaddresses provided in this service are "...@laonet.net".
This company provides a wireless broadband service to more than 50
companies in Vientiane.

PlaNet Online
http://www.planet.laopdr.com/
http://www.planetonline.laopdr.com/

This company was established as PlaNet Computers, and started an
ISP business in Laos in February 2000. Initially, only a limited numberof lines were used, but the number was increased to 128 in 2001.
This company uses a fiber optic cable connected to Thailand.

Source: Multiple reference materials

11.2 Status of Education and Training System
1.2.1 Higher Education
In 1995, 10 higher education institutions in Laos were integrated into the National Universityof Laos (NUOL), the first and only national university. NUOL is under the supervision of theMinistry of Education. Unlike in other countries, the university in Laos has not been playing arole of promoting IT yet.
The university curriculum consists of two years of foundation studies followed by three tofive years (depending on the faculties) of professional studies.
Lectures in NUOL are provided in Lao, but the materials such as textbooks in Lao are few.
So, many materials written in Thai are used. This university has interactions with foreign
universities, including Japanese universities such as Nagoya University, Meiji University,
Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
NUOL has PCs provided by foreign governments, and has a LAN environment. Internet
connections, however, are limited and mainly used by teachers and staff.
With the aid of Japanese government, the Lao-Japan Human Resource Cooperation Center
was established in NUOL campus. It was established with the objectives including promotion ofInternet utilization and computer education, as well as "developing human resources of economic
practices", "providing Japanese language education", and "promoting cultural exchange".

1.2.2 Vocational Education
The objectives and programs of vocational schools differ greatly according to the needs
judged by the responsible government agencies and the priorities determined by theresponsible provinces or regions.
Vocational schools provide vocational training courses of various lengths. Different
government agencies such as the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health are
involved in the establishment and operation of these schools. The main role of the Ministry ofEducation over these vocational schools is to organize the curricula and learning processdeveloped by these government agencies.
The target of technical education in Laos is to foster mid-level and advanced engineers withskills equivalent to those acquired in colleges, and university level engineers. All contents tobe taught in higher technical schools are supervised by the Ministry of Education only. Other
government agencies are in charge of all operational aspects such as facilities, money, andpersonnel management of the schools under their jurisdictions.

1.3 IT Human Resources Required
Laos has a shortage of human resources in all IT related fields.
IT related staff from governmental and private sectors study in foreign countries such as
Malaysia and Singapore, with the financial aid of foreign governments.
NUOL has recently started providing a course of computer science through which the first
graduates were turned out.
In addition, according to the report of ITU in March 2002, Cisco Systems, Inc. of the US is
discussing with the Lao government, UNDP, and educational organizations regarding a plan tobring the Cisco Networking Academy Program (CNAP) into Laos.

1.4 E-Learning Market Trends
Information unavailable.
It seems that nothing exists in Laos that can be called an e-learning market.

22. Technology: Trends of e-Learning System (Synchronous & Asynchronous)
There is no information regarding e-learning activities independently operated by Laotianorganizations.
As part of the "SOIASIA Project", promoted by Keio University, NUOL had been used as one of
the receive-only earth stations to receive lectures delivered via satellite based Internet. Faculty ofEngineering and Architecture of the NUOL received this course, and the teachers of the computer
related majors attended. Although the campus LAN was partly connected to the Internet, theattendees sent questions and reports using a chat system via dial-up connections to the Internet.

3. Advanced Activities
Information unavailable.

34. Government Policy and its Vision (Mid- and Long-term Direction)
4.1 Status of IT Policies
In December 2001, "ICT Guideline" was announced as a national ICT strategy.
The main contents of the guideline are as follows:- Utilizing ICT for national strategies for social and economic development- Utilizing ICT for improving the economy, culture, society, and national defense- Improving the ICT infrastructure- Developing human resources for ICT utilization and development
In ASEAN, project plans (i.e., "Telecommunications framework", "Domestic ICT master plan","Legal structures for ICT", "Action plan for developing ICT human resources") for developing ICT
sectors in Indochina countries are being prepared, and donor countries are going to be asked tosupport these projects.

4.2 E-Learning Related Measures as Part of IT or Educational Policies
Information unavailable.

4.3 Laws Regulating Rights for Intellectual Property and Personal Information in e-Learning
Information unavailable.

4.4 Vision
Information unavailable.

4.5 International and National Conference
Information unavailable.

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